Over 3,000 gardai are set to be hired in an accelerated recruitment drive - and here's what you need to be able to do physically.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald launched the campaign for members of An Garda Siochana today.

The new campaign aims to fulfil the Government's commitment to increase the strength of An Garda Siochana to 15,000 members, the Tánaiste said.

On Thursday night gardaí announced that they were seeking candidates for 800 places in 2017.

"From the last two recruitment campaigns, we have seen many highly talented people from a wide variety of backgrounds join An Garda Síochána,” said Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan. "We want people from every part of Irish life to help us modernise and professionalise while building on what is best about An Garda Síochána.”

Applicants will be tested with a gruelling physical competence test which consists of two parts.

The first physical exam consists of a sprint start, a weave through cones, walking a balance beam, lifting a car wheel and carrying it, jumping, climbing and another sprint. The circuit is to be completed three times in the fastest time possible. A pass standard is three minutes and 20 seconds.

The second part of the test is a push/pull machine assessment.

Male applicants will be required to complete from between 29 and 35 sit-ups in one minute, according to their age.

While females will be required to complete between 25 and 30 sit-ups in one minute.

Furthermore, male applicants will be required to complete between 22 and 25 press-ups, with no time restriction, while females will be required to complete between 18 and 20 push-ups.

“Today is a very important day for An Garda Síochána," the Tánaiste said.

"It marks the formal launch on www.publicjobs.ie of the commencement of a recruitment campaign for new members of An Garda Síochána.

"It reflects the Government’s commitment to seamless ongoing recruitment to An Garda Síochána to ensure that the service is renewed and has the capacity to provide visible, responsive and effective policing to every community throughout the country.”

A massive 3,200 gardai need to be recruited on a phased basis over the next four years, in addition to the 1,200 recruited by the end of this year, to reach a strength of 15,000.

This includes taking projected retirements into account.

It is expected that successful candidates from the new campaign launched today will enter the Garda College from mid-2017.

The last two recruitment campaigns have attracted significant interest – more than 24,000 and 16,000 applications respectively.

A Garda spokesperson said: "Not many organisations offer opportunities to work across so many different areas in a career: from working directly with communities, to investigating crime, to being part of specialist operations such as Dog or Water Units, to working overseas with the UN. In An Garda Síochána, every day is different and every day brings a new challenge.”

Applications must be made through www.publicjobs.ie. The closing date for applications is Thursday 29 September 2016.